Although campaigns for the prevention of AIDS recommend the use of condoms, a good proportion of the most exposed populations do not use them. These are mainly:
young;
couples in which man is not able to experience same degree of sexual pleasure with a condom;
couples in which an unfaithful partner cannot suddenly ask for a condom to be used without raising suspicions;
prostitutes having certain clients who refuse to use a condom for various reasons.
While the incidence of AIDS among homosexuals and bisexual men has been observed to stabilise, the proportion of the heterosexual population infected is still increasing-most of these cases arise from indulgence in sexual relations without taking precautions.
During the XI International Conference on AIDS (Vancouver 1996), a Brazilian delegate showed that the use of the traditional male condom, even when the woman wanted it, was often rendered impossible by the refusal of the partner (R. Loureiro, Condom use among young women of the urban poor population, who attend a public hospital of Porto Alegre, Brazil, XI International Conference on AIDS, Vancouver Jul. 7-12, 1996, Th. C. 4483, pp 329-330), and a group of researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the World Health Organisation considered that the use of a female condom gave women a greater freedom to negotiate sexual relations without risks (A. Purohit, H. Tamashiro, J. Steinberg, A. Kiessling and J. Chakraborty, Prevention issues of male and female condoms, XI International Conference on AIDS, Vancouver Jul. 7-12, 1996, Th. C. 4464, p 327).
Moreover, it is known that women are more vulnerable to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases than men.
That is why the European Commission report on the state of women""s health in the European Union (1996) considers that, since women are more vulnerable than men in contracting this disease, xe2x80x9cit is upon women that efforts should be focused in preventing the propagation of this fatal diseasexe2x80x9d (Report on the state of women""s health in the European Community, Commission of the European Communities 1996).
In addition, it is known that women are usually better agents of prevention.
There are some female condoms currently on the market. EP 0 280 943 describes a female condom consisting of a tubular device for protection against sexually transmitted diseases which can be inserted in the vagina of a user. The female condom comprises a flexible thin-walled tube with a closed end and an open end. The open end has means for stretching it radially, thus preventing the tube from collapsing and keeping the opening open.
One of the disadvantages of such a female condom is that there is a relatively high risk of penetration outside the condom, particularly with repeated contacts.
FR.A.2 730 920 describes a prefitted prophylactic device which is self-introduced on penetration. The device consists of a retentive sheath, generally tapered in shape, which is closed at its smaller end by a spherical cap, the other end being open. The open end has a support plate attached firmly to it, the said plate having an opening with a perimeter equal to that of the open end. The plate is strong, so that it is capable of keeping the opening in the said sheath roughly circular, while remaining flexible. The whole device is intended, through the intermediary of the support plate, to be joined to a textile medium such as an item of underwear.
The aim of the present invention is to propose a female condom that reduces the risk of penetration outside the female condom during coitus.
For this purpose, the invention proposes a female condom comprising a flexible thin-walled tube having a closed end and an open end, the open end having means for stretching the open end radially, the said means for stretching the said open end radially comprising a collarette made of a material harder to the touch than the flexible thin tube, extending in a direction perpendicular to the tube in such a way as to cover the vulva during coitus, characterised in that the collarette has a protuberance elongated in the direction of the anus. It thus covers the region lying between the vulva and the anus during coitus.
For a female condom to be an effective barrier to the transmission of the AIDS virus or other viruses and microbes, it is essential that, even during repeated contacts, the penis is unable to penetrate the vagina outside the condom. That is why it is advantageous to provide a female condom in which the collarette comprises a protuberance or tongue elongated towards the anus and placed parallel to the vulva and perpendicular to the tubular part of the condom.
The collarette, complete with its tongue covering the woman""s vulva, holds the open end of the female condom in place and is an effective barrier to the transmission of diseases since contact between the bodily fluids of the man and the woman is prevented. The collarette, fitted with the tongue made of a material harder to the touch, enables the man to determine the position of the entrance to the female condom and thus to reduce the risk of penetration outside the condom.
In a case of penetration outside the female condom, the fact that the collarette is made of a material harder to the touch enables the partners to appreciate the problem immediately. This is a considerable advantage compared with known female condoms lacking a collarette harder to the touch, condoms for which the penis has to be guided into the tube and with which the partners do not realise anything in a case of penetration outside the condom.
According to a first advantageous embodiment, the means for stretching the open end radially comprises a ring with roughly the same diameter as the tube and delimiting the collarette with respect to the tube. The open end of the tube is kept open using, for example, a plastic ring which has on its perimeter a collarette made of a material harder to the touch than the thin flexible tube.
Preferably, the ring has a diameter identical to that of a vagina. This ring may, according to another embodiment, slide over the said tube.
Advantageously, the collarette is made from a more rigid material and/or a thicker material than the thin flexible tube.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the length of the flexible thin-walled tube is chosen so that the collarette is maintained in contact with the vulva. With a view to increasing the comfort of the female condom, it is preferable for the collarette to be maintained permanently pressed against the lips of the vagina. As the vagina may have various sizes, it is preferable to make available female condoms of different lengths. It might also be possible to provide different widths of collarette.
In another advantageous embodiment, the said closed end incorporates a means for retention enabling the female condom to be held inside the vagina during sexual intercourse.
Preferably, the means for retention is a ring made of a semi-rigid material or of foam rubber. The said means for retention may be impregnated with a spermicidal and/or antiseptic substance.
For those particularly exposed to the virus (seropositive partner), a diaphragm placed inside the tubular part or a thin foam rubber disc could avoid the risk of perforating the condom.
For those less exposed to this risk, a hollowed-out foam rubber ring or disc or a semi-rigid ring could be enough to keep the condom inside the vagina during sexual intercourse.
According to another advantageous embodiment, the said means for retention is capable of being inserted in the closed end in such a way that it can be removed.
The female condom may also incorporate a means for fixing the means for retention to the thin-walled tube.
Advantageously, the flexible thin-walled tube is made from a polymeric material such as natural rubber latex (NRL), polyethylene, polyurethane and derivatives and mixtures of these materials. The female condom may be lubricated inside and/or outside with a lubricant sufficient to improve the comfort.